Stateline casinos post best January since 2009

Beautiful weather in January contributed to the Stateline gaming win, which was up 14.83 percent, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

The casinos in Douglas County's portion of Lake Tahoe took in $19.6 million during the month, compared to $17.1 million last year.

That bumped the annual win up .74 percent to $140.6 million. It's the first time it has been in the black since the fiscal year started on July 1.

The Stateline casinos are the chief source of Douglas County's gaming tax revenue.

It's the highest take for a January since 2009 when the win was $20.3 million for the month. The casinos have quite a ways to go before they rake in the kind of money they received before the Great Recession. The win for January in the 21st century peaked at $31.1 million in 2007.

Casinos in East Fork Township and Carson City, which the state combines for reporting purposes, were up 7.21 percent in January to $8.1 million. So far the year has seen those casinos post a 7 percent increase for the year to $63 million.

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Santa was kind to Douglas County retailers with December showing a 2.3 percent increase in taxable sales.

General merchandise stores, which include both Douglas Walmarts and the Jacks Valley Target, posted a 2.3 percent increase in sales to $12.6 million.

Electronics and appliance stores saw a 5.6 percent increase to $3.8 million Furniture and home furnishing stores posted a 10.6 percent increase to $2.5 million.

Traditionally, one of the strongest sectors, food services and drinking places, were down a percent to $13.7 million. It's the first time that category, which is driven by the Stateline casinos, have come so close in taxable sales.

Food and beverage stores also posted a slight decrease to $4.08 percent.

Manufacturers of durable goods had a good month in December with a 13.1 percent increase to $4.42 million.

Douglas merchants took in a total of $71.5 million during the month.

Because Douglas is guaranteed sales tax revenue from the state, the amount it receives is set regardless of the actual sales tax collected.

While the state collected $1.1 million on the county's behalf, it received $1.2 million.